Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Captains ... in the fields. The leaders of the Jewish army had been "scattered" throughout the country on the capture of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 52:8), in order to escape the notice of the Chaldeans.